There are three different things that I've heard it mean: • A business that is meant to support a particular lifestyle of its stakeholders, and would not risk

There are three different things that I've heard it mean: • A business that is meant to support a particular lifestyle of its stakeholders, and would not risk that lifestyle for higher growth. This is the proper and non-derogatory meaning. • A small business. Usually one that has something in its DNA to keep it small – market size, product focus, etc. These businesses would often be hurt rather than helped by a capital injection and accompanying expectations. • The thing a bootstrapping startup gets called after "ramen profitable". The founders still aim for high-growth, but without external capital. Here the term is damning by faint praise. They're all businesses that at a given point may be about the same size, but the term becomes condescending as you move along the spectrum above towards the second and third instances where the goal is not to be a lifestyle business.